Gunner Stockton for Heisman Trophy? Kirby Smart says QB 'embodies everything about award'
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Oscar Delp took to social media early Sunday morning to campaign for Georgia football quarterback Gunner Stockton to be selected as a Heisman Trophy finalist.
“Bring him to New York #heisman,” Delp posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
That came after Stockton threw for four touchdown passes and ran for another in a 35-10 rout of Texas in a top 10 matchup on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart didn’t quite say Stockton needs to be one of four finalists, but he came out with strong backing for Stockton to be considered for the award for the nation’s top player.
Smart said he’d let voters determine that but also spoke about reasons why the redshirt junior first-year starter should be considered.
“It’s hard to lobby for that,” he said on Monday, Nov. 17. “What I will say is he embodies everything about that award — resiliency, character, determination. All those words that embody a Heisman Trophy winner, Gunner’s got it. And he’s done it on the biggest stages, in front of the biggest audiences, against some of the toughest competition at a really high level.”
Stockton has 19 touchdown passes to 3 interceptions while completing 70.3% of his passes
He’s completed 77.5% of his passes with 11 touchdown passes and 1 interception in four games against ranked opponents, according to cfbstats.com.
Stockton leads all SEC quarterbacks with 8 rushing touchdowns while rushing for 350 yards.
“He’s playing well,” Smart said. "He’s playing to make the people around him better and his value on our team is immense.”
Stockton, as of Monday, is up to fifth in Heisman odds by BetMGM, behind four other quarterbacks.
Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza (-115) is first followed by Ohio State’s Julian Sayin (+225), Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed (+500) and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia (+2200).
Then comes Stockton (+2500), followed by Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King (+3500).
Ohio State emails have hit inboxes of media members pushing Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith for the award.
Georgia is letting Stockton’s play on the field speak for itself for now.
Delp on Monday detailed why he felt so strongly about Stockton.
“The numbers are the numbers,” Delp said. “I mean, I see stuff everywhere about all these guys at different schools, you know, their teams are pushing them for them to be on the Heisman, all that. I mean, Gunner doesn’t care about that stuff at all. But just me being you know, one of his best friends as a roommate, I see it every day at practice. We’re playing the biggest games in the country, he’s dominating, so it’s kind of crazy that he’s not talked about more.”
Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett finished fourth in the voting in 2022 when he was one of the finalists to make it to New York.
The Heisman ceremony is Dec. 13.
There were 928 with ballots last year.
Stockton has two more games scheduled for voters to deem if he’s worthy of being in their top three selections.
“I don’t know what goes into that or who makes those decisions,” Delp said, “but you know, if I’m turning on tape, that’s one of the guys that I’m inviting.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Kirby Smart on if Gunner Stockton worthy of invite for Heisman ceremony
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